The joy of Oral chemo

The best parts of having ABC are the fantastic people I have met on the same journey as well as the fantastic Oncologists, both Medical and Radiation, who have treated me.

We all draw strength from each other and rejoice when one of us has great news like Amanda and Celeste have just had, and encourage when one of us is feeling apprehensive or scared of the future.

I have the same Medical Oncologist as Amanda and it is very reassuring to be an equal and respected partner in all treatment decisions. Appointments assume the pattern of a medical discussion, not a question and answer session. I researched a new treatment and was offered this as a last resort before having to resume chemotherapy. Hopefully the Faslodex injections will work, as they are even easier to take (an injection into each buttock once a month, but not currently on PBS) than the fantastic drug Xeloda that Amanda talks about.

I haven't had any scans since December, we can see if treatment is working by the response of the skin metastases. Arimidex, Aromasin and Tamoxifen seemed to feed them and Radiotherapy seemed to be the only treatment option that would slow them down. Finishing my third course of radiotherapy today and then we watch and wait.

We are all pushing the survival statistics, I wonder if the support available from other strong ABC women is a factor? We have really developed into a community. I initially wanted to start a social group for Stage 4 women, but I have headed off in another direction. Would this be feasible? I was impressed by a poem, particularly the last stanza, I lifted from an American site and would have called this group "Women of Strength."

"A strong woman has faith that she is strong enough for the journey....     But a woman of strength has faith that it is in the journey that she will become strong........"

This seems to describe us all.

With love

Joy K